Good vs. Evil

Good Vs. Evil
In Beowulf, the conflict between good and evil is the poem's main and most important aspect. The poet makes it clear that good and evil doesn’t exist as only opposites, but that both qualities are present in everyone. Beowulf represents the ability to do good or to perform acts selflessly and in help of others. Goodness is also showed throughout this epic as having the ability to cleanse evil. Even though evil is presented by Grendel, Grendel's mother, and the dragon, who are filled with a desire to act against people and ultimately destroy them, even pride, a human quality, is presented in Beowulf as a sign that evil exists. This story might even be considered a classic because it mainly talks about the old fashion good vs. evil, hero vs. villain. Beowulf and the three monsters show the significant difference between good and evil, and why god will always prevail.
At the beginning of the play, one reads about Grendel, who is a man eating monster who is feared by everyone. Grendel represents sin and evil throughout the story in various ways. Evil is first shown by the monster Grendel when, “Suddenly then the God-cursed brute was creating havoc: greedy and grim, he grabbed thirty men from their resting places and rushed to his lair”. (Beowulf 120-124). Grendel lives in the darkness and has absolutely no remorse on human life. This shows a very big quality of an evil being and how the Anglo-Saxons viewed evil in forms of monsters. Evil is also thought to be greedy and according to the poem, Grendel’s “thoughts were as quick as his greed.” Christian beliefs were brought up through Grendel’s evil when mentioning his home and how he lives in hell and made his home there instead of Earth. Grendel is said to had “dwelt for a time in misery among the banished monsters, Cain’s clan,” (Beowulf 104-106), who in the Bible, killed his brother and destined to live…...

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Casablanca
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April 2014
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Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
View of Good and Evil: Hinduism and Jainism
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Hinduism
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_massacre
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...From Good to Evil
The line between good and evil is permeable and almost anyone can be induced to cross it when pressured by situational forces. Macbeth is first introduced as a war hero, and the thane of Glamis, a nobleman who Duncan, the King of Scotland, speaks very highly of. Macbeth is a courageous Scottish general who is not naturally disposed to commit evil deeds, yet he deeply desires power. In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, it is evident how influences like Lady Macbeth, the witches and fate push Macbeth into committing evil acts.
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From this time
Such I account thy love. Art thou afeard
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...between good and evil? Have you ever thought about why no ever really talks about it?
The difference between good and evil is that they are quality judgments, just like hot and cold, light and dark, and near and far are quality judgments. Quality judgments are evaluations that we humans make relative to our own experience as human beings. Hot is what is hot to us. Far is what is far to us. Good is what is good to us. Evil is what is bad to us. Good and evil are quality judgments that we make relative to ourselves and our experiences here on Earth. But if good and evil are quality judgments, what's the quantity being judged? And what's the phenomena being quantified?
At a glance I would say that the quantity that good and evil qualify is morality. Good and evil are moral evaluations, so morality is the scale being used to quantify the phenomena. And if morality is a scale we are using to quantify a phenomenon, then the phenomena would by definition be human behavior, as morality applies only to human behavior. Or to view it from the other way round, there is a perceived phenomenon that we define as human behavior. We measure the range of that behavior using morality as our scale, and we qualify this range of morality as being good or evil depending upon how it affects us experientially. So essentially, then, good and evil are quality judgments passed by ourselves, relative to ourselves, about ourselves.
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